Luke Easterbrook (Caversham) overcame apprehension and inclement weather to win the open men's title at the Barnes Cross-country at Kettle Park yesterday.
Easterbrook (32), a scientific illustrator with the University of Otago, took to running two years ago, when he ventured along to the 5km Saturday morning park runs.
The weekly challenge evolved into his running his two half-marathons late last year, joining the Caversham Harrier Club and contesting his first marathon earlier this month on the City of Christchurch course, clocking 3hr 46min 19sec.
"I'm pretty happy. I just did my fastest 5k,'' he said yesterday when asked how it felt to win the 67-year-old trophy.
Competing from a handicap of 4min, Easterbrook took just 20min 31sec, almost a minute faster than his previous best, to clinch the trophy for the annual 5km cross-country event inspired by the late Sir James Barnes.
Barnes was a noted Otago and New Zealand mile and cross-country-runner, MP for St Kilda and mayor of Dunedin from 1968 to 1977.
Easterbrook played down a favouritism tag heaped on him by defending champion and Caversham club mate Andrew Glennie, whom Easterbook headed home in their club's 1500m Lovelock Relay trials at the end of April.
"That was the first race I done with the club,'' Easterbrook said of his 1500m triumph.
But yesterday, Easterbook was unsure of what to expect, as most of the names and start times on the list were a bit of a blur.
But perhaps in his favour were a new pair of spikes he purchased prior to the race.
There was no sign of any discomfort in breaking in his new footwear for the occasion as he quickly leapt into contention near the end of the first of four laps, taking over the lead from David Low (Civil Service midway through the second lap and maintaining a steady pace to head the field home 26sec clear of second-placed Alastair Chisnall (Ariki), with Ken Fahey (Caversham) 10sec further back third.
Easterbook will now target reducing his times over the half-marathon and marathon distances, with immediate goals in the Dunedin and Queenstown events later this year.
"I'm quite interested in getting into trail running,'' he said of his long-term goals.
"I probably won't get into the 100km stuff. But you never say never.''
Defending champion Glennie may have been leg weary after just coming off a 4hr training run yesterday morning, but his form guide was right on the money when he made no secret as to his pick to carry off the title.
"Luke is a new member at the club, and the few times that we've run together, he's been pretty quick,'' he said.
"When we had our club 1500m, he smoked me by about 30sec. So I knew he had the pace. And I knew he had done the Christchurch Marathon in an all right time, and he was doing that pretty conservative. He was taking it easy because he hadn't run one before. He's definitely got some speed there.''
Glennie, who ran on to finish midfield is targeting the 100 mile section of The Great Naseby Water Race in August.
It became a golden day for the Caversham club as Jake Jackson Grammer shared equal-fastest time for the 5km open men's race with Hill City-University's Kirk Madgwick, each clocking 16min 22sec.
Lia Bezett continued the trophy grab for the Caversham club, with a strong run to win the 3.75km open women's title in 20min 2sec.
Bezett, burst on to the local scene last year with her victory in the annual Ness Cup mile race at the Caledonian Ground, and featured for the Caversham club at the Lovelock Relay meeting early last month.
Competing from a handicap of 4min 30sec, Bezett had to work her way through a congested field before hitting the lead midway through the final lap.
Another feature of the race was the run from Mary Gray (Hill City-University), who clocked fastest time of 15min 4sec.
